Sunday, 13 May 2018

What is the fate of nurse assistants – Democratic Youth Alliance asks government

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May 13, 2018

The health wing of Democratic Youth Alliance, Volta region,
are alarmed with how the NPP led administration is treating the nurses and
other health workers in the country.

The nursing profession has various categories of trainees
which includes; general nursing, community health nursing, mental health
nursing, and other certificates nurses.

However, the government in pursuit of its job creation have
developed modules to recruit the nurses as well, whom hitherto would have been
employed by the Ghana Health Service directly after their rotation or national
service.

The recent module of employment for the trained
professional nurses is the Nation Builders Corp, which seeks to employ
graduates who are seeking for jobs desperately. With this program, the general
and mental health nurses are been considered for a more of contract base
employment, leaving out the community health nurses.

It is because of this that, the Democratic Youth Alliance –
Volta in a release signed by Bismark Newton Haduvorsah, President is asking the
President, Nana Akuffo Addo to tell them where he has placed Nursing Assistants
(community health nurses and other certificate nurses) on this government’s job
creation agenda.

They stated that, “In the build up to the 2016 general
election, you made a plethora of promises to us, the nursing fraternity.
Notably among them are the restoration of Nursing Trainees' Allowance (NTA),
without a quota system, giving us financial clearance to enable us secure
permanent jobs, you told us your government will build more hospitals to absorb
us. You also told some of our colleagues categorically on Krachi Nursing and
Midwifery campus that your government will give us readily permanent jobs after
our licensure exams. We leave your performance in the health sector for our
parents to judge. As we speak, no trainee has received a pesewa from your
government this year. Our parents sit home and think we are being paid. No!
It's not true. Clearly your government have not been candid with us. The
allowance is not coming, yet the quota system is fully back.

“Mr. President, with the introduction of the almighty NABCO
(Nation builders' corps - heal Ghana), there have been several attempts by your
government to paint a picture as if this is the ultimate solution to our
plights as nurses. While we continue to question the legality backing, policy
document and exit plan of this program, we have realized that it has no place
for Nursing Assistants (Certificate nurses including community health nurses,
environmental health nurses etc). This is because, one basic qualification for
this program is NATIONAL SERVICE, which you know the Certificate nurses don't
do. So clearly and technically, we have been excluded.”

Meanwhile, they have lamented that this was not what the
government promised them during their campaigning in 2016. “We feel hoodwinked
just for the purposes of helping you win an election.”

“What baffles us the more is that, in an attempt by your
government to distinguish NABCO from National Youth employment policy (NYEP),
we are told NABCO is purely for graduates and NYEP is for non graduates. Mr.
President, is that to say we, certificate nurses should go and apply under NYEP
or we are just not recognized under your government? What is our fate under
your government? We know, it will be a nightmare for us to think we would be
given financial clearance that will enable us earn an approximated monthly
salary of GHC1200 while our seniors, graduates, take an alleged GHC700
monthly which we know is phantasmagorical because they would be paid from DACF
(District Assembly Common Fund). The question too is how often does the DACF
come to our various districts?

“Finally, we want to use this opportunity to tell all Nurse
Assistants who are questioning the integrity of this policy that, even the
illegal policy they are fighting doesn't have any place whatsoever for them. In
plain language, we have been deceived!”

The DYA group feels there is a discrimination against
nurses has been deepened and consolidated by government of the day through the
introduction of the NABCo program that is aimed at giving a substandard
symptomatic treatment to unemployment in the country. “We have been declared
technically unwanted. It's high time we interrogate and analyse promises made
to us by sweet talking desperate politicians during their campaign periods.”